Ark Prep 101 - Cooking Without Electricity!

from Prepared NOT Scared! by Tricia Smith

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It's been an interesting week at the Smith house.

All four of our main kitchen appliances stopped working

a couple of weeks ago.  We ended up having to purchase

a new stove, dishwasher, fridge, and microwave.

Oh, the JOY!

After the sticker shock wore off, we were actually excited to have

them delivered and installed,

 but then we remembered . . .

We closed on our house on FRIDAY THE 13th.

I look back now and wonder what we were thinking.

We haved had to replace everything including the gravel

and the cement floor in the basement.

It used to stress me right out, but now I just expect

a little challenge.

To make a long story short . . .

The NEW dishwasher doesn't work.

The NEW fridge has to be replaced because of injuries sustained

as a result of the installation.

When the NEW stove was plugged in, it exploded and shot

fire out the top leaving a burn mark on my backsplash.

BUT THE GOOD NEWS . . .

The microwave works like a charm, I think!?!

I'm still trying to figure out how it works.

Sometimes my husband and I just sit on the porch and laugh.

(It keeps us from crying!)

There is NEVER a dull moment here!

So, you're probably wondering why you needed to read

all about my adventures at home . . . trust me,

there is a reason.

Without a stove or an oven making dinner this week has

provided great opportunities to think outside of the box.

We have used the crockpot, the grill, and the microwave, but

there are a lot more options for cooking without electricity.

1st Option:
The Propane Stove
(Small Propane Stove)

(Large Propane Cook Stove)

2nd Option:
Volcano Stove

3rd Option:
Propane Oven

4th Option:
Sun Oven

5th Option:

Dutch Oven

6th Option:

Butane Stoves

7th Option:
Wonder Box Stye Thermal Cooker

8th Option:

Over the Fire

9th Option:

Wall Tent Camp Stove

10th Option:

BBQ Grill

11th Option:

Kerosene Stoves

It's important to make sure that you have the fuel for

whatever option you choose to use.

It's also important to know how to use the items you have

on hand.  During an emergency is probably not the best time to

learn how to use your equiptment.
I will be posting specific information on each of the options
I have shown above next Tuesday.
Just for FUN . . .

Try making foil dinners outside with the family.
They don't take very long and the kids will have a
great time peeling their own potatoes and making their
own hamburger patties!
Follow it up with some S'mores

and you'll be a FaVoRiTe for sure!

How to Make Powdered Eggs

from Tactical Intelligence by Tactical Intelligence

The incredible edible powdered egg.
Despite the at-times negative media attention (we all know how reliable the main-stream media is nowadays) eggs are a very nutritious source of food that is one of the cornerstones in baking. With it’s low-cost but high-quality source of protein, if it weren’t for its short shelf life and fragility, it would be a great addition to your survival store if only you could store it.
Well, unbeknownst to many people, eggs can in fact be stored (up to 10 years if stored correctly) in the form of dehydrated egg powder — perfect for bug-out bags, camping trips and long-term food storage.
They can be used in baked goods just like normal eggs or reconstituted and made into fluffy scrambled eggs.
Here’s how you can do it at home:

What You’ll Need

• A food dehydrator (I use a cheap Walmart version)
• Eggs
• Something to store the powder in when complete

How to Make Powdered Eggs

The process for making powdered eggs is fairly simple. However there are two ways (one which creates a far superior product but more on that later), let me explain the process for both:
(In these examples, I used a half-dozen eggs for the cook-dry method and another half-dozen eggs for the wet-dry method)

The Cook-Dry Method

	Step 1: Whip up a half-dozen eggs using a blender (for a more complete mixture). And then then in a non-stick frying pan, cook the egg solution like you would when making scrambled eggs.
	Step 2: Place cooked eggs onto a drying rack in your dehydrator and set the temperature to about 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
	Step 3: Let dry for around 4 hours until completely brittle throughout.
	Step 4: Chop dried chunks in a blender or food processor (or coffee grinder) until it has a fine powdery constancy. Bag it and store it away.

The Wet-Dry Method

	Step 1: Lightly grease a fruit roll sheet (it comes with the dehydrator) with a paper towel.
	Step 2: Whip up a half-dozen eggs using a blender (not necessary but it does make for a a more uniform mixture). Pour the egg slurry into the fruit-roll sheet and set the temperature to about 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
	Step 3: Let dry for around 16 hours until completely brittle throughout.
	Step 4: Place dried chunks in a blender or food processor (or coffee grinder) until it has a fine powdery constancy. Bag it and store it away.

Here’s a picture showing the final result of both the wet-dry and cooked-dry method of dehydrating. Each half-dozen eggs dehydrated produced almost exactly a half a cup of powder. You can also see how the wet dry method produces an orange powder (this color turns back to yellow when reconstituted and cooked).:

My Results

When comparing the two methods there is most definitely a clear winner — the wet dry method.
This is surprising since most of the information found online and in books explains that you should use the cook-dry method. Their main reasoning is that by cooking them it will kill any potential salmonella bacteria. I find this point irrelevant since after reconstituting them you will be cooking with them anyways (as you would with the original eggs) which will kill the salmonella.
The only advantage I found with the cook-dry method is the quickness of the drying time (four hours compared to 16 with the wet-dry method). Beyond that, when reconstituting the cook-dried eggs and cooking them like scrambled eggs, they have a grainy texture, and they taste dry and stale. They also do not fluff up like normal eggs when cooked in a pan. I assume this lack of “rising” would not work to well in baked goods that require this “leavening” property.
The wet-dry method produces a much better product. Although the powder turns initially orange, when reconstituted and cooked like scrambled eggs, the orange turns to yellow and they taste, look, and feel just like non-dehydrated egss. They also maintain the “leavening” property and fluff up which is important for baking.
Here’s a picture of the two in powder form with their resultant reconstituted and cooked product:

How to Use Powdered Eggs

Uses of Powdered Eggs

Powdered eggs can be used in the same exact manner as regular eggs. The only thing you’ll not be able to do is create things like poached eggs, or sunny-side-up eggs etc. But for all other needs like baking, french toast, scrambled eggs and so on, you’ll have the same results — but in a much more compact and storage-friendly form.

How to Reconstitute Powdered Eggs

Reconstituting powdered eggs is a simple process. To make the equivalent of one average sized egg mix 1 heaping tablespoon of egg powder together with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir it up, let it sit for 5 min and use as you would normal eggs.

Conclusion

After trying out this process, I’m not sure if it’s entirely worth it to spend 16 hours to make a dozen powdered eggs. I assume if I had a better dehydrator with more than two fruit-roll sheets it would be an easier process, but given what I got it would take 120 hours to fill a #10 can (it fits about 7 1/2 dozen eggs) if I used the wet-dry method (the cooked dry egg taste so bad I wouldn’t even consider it).
Also, since you can purchase really cheap powdered eggs online, equivalent to what you would pay for fresh eggs in the store, makes it even less appealing.
For example, from HoneyVilleGrain.com (where I get my powdered eggs from) you can purchase a six-pack case of #10 cans of powdered eggs for $89.99. This is equivalent to 45 dozen eggs (each can fits about 7.5 dozen eggs) – enough for a year’s supply for a small family.
At $89.99 that’s around $2 a dozen. Not too bad.
Where this whole process would definitely be worth it is if you had chickens that produced more eggs than you typically consume. This would help to store up a good amount of eggs when the chickens go through their down phase.

Related posts:

1. How to Turn Your Non-Fat Powdered Milk into Whole Milk

Wild Dogs at the End of the World

from Survive The Worst by Nomad

Modern Day Iraq offers us a unique glimpse at what would occur during a TEOTWAWKI scenario. As we all know Iraq was the scene of a massive war aimed at completely replacing the government of Saddam Hussein. Many of its keys infrastructure was destroyed during the shock and awe campaign that marked the beginning of the war. Many Iraqis, concerned with the struggle of day to day living were unable to care for their family pets. As a result, Iraq, especially Baghdad is overran with packs of stray dogs.

In a span of three months, teams of veterinarians and police shooters have killed over 58,000 stray dogs. They estimate the stray population to be as high as 1.25 million in Baghdad alone.These dogs are not the cute and cuddly lap dogs that many of you are used to seeing. This dogs have formed packs and are hunting everything that moves, including children. Unfortunately, they are instinctively awesome hunters and several children have been killed by these dogs.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, the US currently has 77.5 million dogs being housed as pets.  To date Animal shelters across the country are noticing an increase in pet surrenders and abandonment due largely to the fact that many are losing their homes to foreclosure and find that they are unable to take their dogs with them.

In a true end of the world scenario, you should expect the unthinking masses to turn their best friends loose under the mistaken philosophy that their family pet will at least have a fighting chance at life on their own. This failed logic will results in hundreds of thousands of wild packs, ranging from 40 to 100 dogs each, roaming the countryside, hunting for their next meal. Realize, that if you are not careful, you could very well end up on the menu! Dogs are smart, sneaky hunters that often use deception to lure their prey into an ambush. Even if your armed you may not be able to defend yourself against some of the larger packs.

As a rule of thumb during TEOTWAWKI you should never turn your pets loose, even if you have no means to care for them. Considering the fact that most parts of our internal infrastructure probably won't be operational, the only decent thing to do is to put it down yourself. If you don't have the stomach to do it yourself, find someone who does.

Also, realize that these packs of wild dogs will quickly become one of the more serious threats that you will encounter on an ever increasing basis, the longer TEOTWAWKI continues. The only solution to this threat is to kill these dogs on site whenever you encounter them. Again, this is concerning a post-TEOTWAWKI scenario where basic services like Animal shelters are no longer functioning.

While dogs are awesome companions and help alert you to potential security concerns you need to ensure that you take care of your pets. It seems like a simple concept by as the article in Iraq shows people do things without thinking of the consequences. Remember, if you choose to keep a pet its your responsibility to care for and prevent it from becoming everybody else's problem.

Preparedness Essentials - Hot Beds and Cold Frames

from Stealth Survival by noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker)

Gardening is an essential part of being prepared. Being able to raise your own vegetables will help you to be more self-reliant. Although many people don't have ideal weather conditions for growing a successful garden, using a hot bed or a cold frame can be used to extend your growing season. With fall weather soon to be upon us, you still have time to build your own hot bed or cold frame.

Here is a secure download for a PDF file that covers some of the important aspects when using a hot bed or a cold frame to extend your growing season:

HO_53.PDF (104.6 kb)

The file also contains some great illustrations to help you in your efforts in making a hot bed or cold frame. Building your own hot bed or cold frame can be a great way to help you raise more vegetables for the dinner table.

Got hot bed or cold frame?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Making a toothbrush

Image via Wikipedia

from Wilderness Survival Forums by AirborneEagles

Again, if anyone has put something of the same on here feel free to do with this thread as you will.

Hygiene is important while in the bush as well. In most places there is some tree that is not poisonous so this is fine and dandy for finding small branches to make a toothbrush with.

The Toothbrush is simple to make. Takes a few minutes to find a branch (small) and slice the end of the branch several times with your knife. Making it as fine as you want or as coarse as you want, you can make the bristles for what will look like your toothbrush at home. If you don't have a knife, then chewing on the end of the branch until it is splintery or spliney so it has some sort of bristles so you can use it to brush your teeth with. I prefer pine, but your choice is up to you. Even a solid edible plant with good stock can be used if the stock is hard enough to make bristles with.

Toothpaste is another one of your great choices. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and any other edible berry is filled with vitamins that help your teeth, get rid of plaque while you brush and also tastes great. If you can't find anything edible that you can use to brush your teeth with like berries, fruit or soft vegetable, then dry brushing with water is also good enough to keep your teeth clean and keep the plaque from building up.

On a number of occasions I forgot my toothbrush, it was not on my list and it just simply was forgot about since I don't take a shaving kit with me or even deodorant while in the bush. All those nice smelling things can be smelled miles away by other animals. Going out smelling like a desert dish isn't my kind of excitement when in grizzly country, around mountain lions or near an area with a lot of wolves. So I prefer I smell human so they have that instinct of man within them when they do smell me. Getting that day old food out my mouth is also one thing I want to do since when I come back to town, I don't want to look like a zombie out of "28 Days Later" and making the nice girls cringe when they see my teeth. =)

Anyway, hope it gives an idea for those just in case outdoor adventures when you just forgot your toothbrush or the bear runs off with your pack.